Think it out

I. 1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which
lines indicate this?
Ans: The two voices in the poem are the ‘voice of the rain’ and the ‘voice of
the poet’. The lines which indicate the voice of the rain are ‘I am the Poem of
Earth, said the voice of the rain’ and the lines which indicate the voice of the
poet are ‘And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower’.
 
2. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?
Ans: The phrase ‘strange to tell’ means that it was strange for the soft-falling
rain to reply to the poet’s question. When the poet asked the rain ‘who art
thou?’ the rain replied ‘I am the Poem of Earth’.
 
3. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words
indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.
Ans: The lines ‘For the song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment,
wandering Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns’ draws a parallel between
rain and music. Here, the poet compares the life-cycle of the rain and the
song. As the song originated from the heart of the singer, wanders to the
world, whether liked or not, comes back to its birth-place in the end with lots of
love. Similarly, the rain that originates from earth (birth-place), fulfills its duty to
beautify and purify the earth and wanders and comes back with love for its
creator.
Also, see -  Class 12 English Chapter wise Explanation
4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem?
Compare it with what you have learnt in science.
Ans: In the poem, the water rises from the land and the bottomless sea in the
form of vapour. It then changes its form, transforms itself into clouds. It comes
down to the earth in the form of rain to wash drought, provide water, give life
to unborn and latent seeds inside the earth. The rain purifies and beautifies
the earth.
In science, the water is evaporated in the form of water vapour, condenses in
the sky to form clouds, and then rains down in the form of water into rivers,
streams, ground, ocean, etc. In the poem, the rain describes its eternal
journey itself.
 
5. Why are the last two lines put within brackets?
Ans: The last two lines are put within the bracket because they are the
observations made by the poet and his thoughts. He made a similarity
between the rain and the music.
 
6. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans: 1. Day, Night
2. Reck’d, Unreck’d
3. Rise, Descend

Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Why does the poet get surprised when he gets an answer from the rain?
Answer:
The poet gets surprised when he gets an answer from the rain, as it is inanimate and
cannot speak. In this poem, to the poet’s and reader’s amazement, the rain gives a
reply which has been translated by the poet for the readers.

Question 2.
What answer does the rain give back to the poet?
Answer:
The rain answers to the poet’s question by telling him that it is the Poem of Earth and
is involved in a continuing process of going up and coming down.

Question 3.
How does the rain justify its claim ‘I am the Poem of Earth’?
Answer:
The rain calls itself the Poem of the Earth because the poem rendered by the poet
has the task of bringing joy, happiness, life to its readers. Similarly when the rain falls
down over Earth, a rhythm or music is created. That’s why the rain calls itself the
Poem of Earth.

Question 4.
Describe the never ending cycle of rain.
Answer:
Water rises unperceived in the form of vapour from land and water bodies on the
Earth. It goes up, takes the form of a cloud, changes its shape and falls down on
Earth in the form .of water drops to bathe the small dust particles, land and sea. The
water returns through rivers to oceans and seas after it rains on Earth.

Question 5.
Why does the rain call itself ‘impalpable’?
Answer:
Impalpable means something that cannot be felt by touching or seeing. When water
takes the form of vapour, it is not visible to the human eye and nor can we feel its
touch.

The vapour rises to the sky, condenses and forms clouds which cause rain. Though
we are aware of its presence, the process remains invisible to us. Hence, the rain
has rightly called itself ‘impalpable’.

Question 6.
What happens when it rains after a long hot spell?
Answer:
After a long hot spell, everything is dried up on Earth. When it rains, all the dust that
has accumulated on Earth gets washed away, giving a new fresh look to nature.
Moreover the seeds which were lying latent till now, get germinated with the help of
rain and new trees and plants start growing.

Question 7.
Latent seeds get a life by rain. Explain.
Answer:
The seeds lying on Earth require water to germinate and take shape. When it rains,
the seeds start germinating and change into the form of saplings. In this way, the
seeds which would have dried up or get wasted get a new lease of life by rain.

Question 8.
Why is rain essential for Earth?
Answer:
If it doesn’t rain then Earth will remain parched, droughts will follow and the dust-
layers will not be washed away. There will be nothing to quench the thirst of the
plants and trees and their seeds will die.

Question 9.
How does the rain become the voice of Earth?
Answer:
In the poem, ‘The Voice of the Rain’, the poet describes how the rain falls on Earth.
He also asks a question to the rain’about it. He calls the showers of the rain as
‘Poem of Earth’ as the rain gives a new lease of life to ‘ the scorched and parched
Earth and falls on Earth in a rhythmic manner.

Actually, it is the voice of Earth as the slowly falling showers produce a very soft
music and Earth finds its expression only through the showers falling on it.

Question 10.
Why do you think the poet says the phrase ‘reck’d or unreck’d’?
Answer:
The words have been poetically drafted. Reck’d and unreck’d stand for reckoned and
unreckoned. The words literally mean cared and uncared for respectively. The poet
says these words to emphasise the fact that when it falls on the Earth, we
sometimes take notice of it or sometimes completely ignore it. But even if it is left
uncared for, it completes its destiny and returns to absorbed where it started from.

Question 11.
Justify the title ‘The Voice of the Rain’.
Answer:
The whole poem is about the eternal process of rain and its benefits. Through the
words of the rain, the poet has tried to bring out the importance of rain for Earth, for
plants and for man. As the poet is translating what the rain is speaking through its
own language (the sounds it makes when it falls), the whole poem is about the rain
talking to the poet. Thus, the title is justified.

Question 12.
The poem has a conversational tone throughout. Who are the two participants? Is
there any advantage of this method?
Answer:
The two participants are the poet and the voice of the rain which answers the poet’s
questions. The advantage of this method is to maintain continuity of thoughts and
ideas expressed by the poet and to bring about clarity in what he wants to express.

The Voice Of The Rain Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type
Question 1.
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’ gives a hidden message that rain is essential for
this Earth. Write an article in 120-150 words describing the importance of rain.
Answer:

Importance of Rain
by Ali Jawed

As we all know, the three essentials for survival are water, food and air. The most
important element of weather is water. We get water in different forms of
precipitation but rain is the most beneficial of all types of precipitation.

Rain helps in harvesting our crops that give us food to eat. Without rain, no crops
would grow and we would perish. Also, falling showers remove the dust in air,
making our air clean, because we need clean air to breathe.

Rain water plays a key role in creating the climate of certain areas. Its presence in
the atmosphere provides replenishment of the moisture in cloud systems.

The most well-known and most important effect of rain water is to provide us with
water to drink. Without rain, there would be no life.

Question 2.
Rain is an eternal process benefiting mankind. Contrast it with human life which is
short lived on this Earth. Should we disturb these eternal elements of nature?
Answer:
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’ beautifully shows the continued process of rain
which sounds like music to human ears, as it fulfills our needs.

It is an ever going process which sustains human life and provides us with food, pure
air and green cover. On the other hand, human lives are mortal. We come on this
Earth for a short period and then depart without leaving any mark on this planet.
Moreover human beings, for their greed and selfish motives, indulge in destructive
activities which may disturb these eternal processes of nature.

We must learn a lesson from nature. If we want peaceful co-existence, we need not
disturb the balance of nature, otherwise the whole of humanity will be in danger. We
must learn a lesson from such eternal processes and do something good for
humanity at large.

Question 3.
Natural elements such as air and rain make no discrimination and bless everyone
equally. Comment on class distinction and inequality, which is a totally human
creation.
Answer:
Man’s existence on this Earth is short-lived but even in this short span, he has been
responsible for many wrong doings against other human beings. God has created
everyone as equal. But it is very unfortunate that man has divided this society on the
basis of class, caste and other factors.

Man must learn from elements of nature which provide us fresh air, heat or water,
without making any distinction. But in human society class distinctions and caste
distinctions both exist and inequalities prevail in large numbers. It is high time that
man must learn lessons from nature and adopt universal brotherhood for the
betterment of our society.

The Voice Of The Rain Extract based Questions and Answers

I. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,

Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,

Question 1.
Who is T in the first line?
(a) The poet
(b) The land
(c) The sea
(d) The raindrops
Answer:
(a) The poet

Question 2.
What does the rain call itself? Why?
(a) The poet of the Earth
(b) The poem of the Earth
(c) The poem of the Sea
(d) The poet of the Sea
Answer:
The poem of the Earth

Question 3.
The word ‘thou’ in the extract is a ………. .
(a) noun
(b) verb
(c) preposition
(d) pronoun
Answer:
(d) pronoun

II. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d, altogether changed, and yet the same,

Question 1.
What does the use of word ‘eternal’ indicate here?
(a) It indicates the continual process of rain
(b) It indicates the continual process of nature
(c) It indicates the discontinuous process of rain
(d) It indicates the discontinuous process of nature
Answer:
(a) It indicates the continual process of rain

Question 2.
From where does ‘I’ rise and where does it go?
(a) It rises in the form of droplets and goes to the sea
(b) It rises in the form of clouds and goes to the sky
(c) It rises in the form of water vapour and goes to the land
(d) It rises in the form of water vapour and goes to the sky
Answer:
(d) It rises in the form of water vapour and goes to the sky

Question 3.
Which word in the extract means the same as “in a way that is uncertain, indefinite or
unclear”?
(a) Eternal
(b) Impalpable
(c) Vaguely
(d) Bottomless
Answer:
(c) Vaguely

III. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,

And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;

Question 1.
With what purpose does the rain descend from the sky?
(a) To trouble the creatures of the Earth
(b) To give life to the drought affected areas and plants
(c) To wash the dust layers enveloping the Earth
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer:
(d) Both (b) and (c)

Question 2.
What will happen if T was not there?
(a) It would result in happiness on the Earth
(b) It would not matter to the residents of the Earth
(c) The seeds will remain as seeds and plants will not grow
(d) It would result in the rise of temperature on Earth
Answer:
(c) The seeds will remain as seeds and plants will not grow

Question 3.
……….. is the opposite of ‘latent’.
(a) Inactive
(b) Manifest
(c) Dormant
(d) Resolute
Answer:
(b) Manifest

IV. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;

Question 1.
In what way does the rain help its place of origin?
(a) By causing floods
(b) By providing water to the drought stricken areas
(c) By washing away impurities from the Earth
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer:
(d) Both (b) and (c)

Question 2.
What is the importance of the word ‘forever’?
(a) It points to the everlasting features of artificial elements
(b) It points to the everlasting features of natural elements
(c) It points to the temporary features of natural elements
(d) It points to the temporary features of artificial elements
Answer:
(b) It points to the everlasting features of natural elements

Question 3.
……….. in the extract is the opposite of ‘ending’.
(a) By
(b) Back
(c) Origin
(d) Beginning
Answer:
(c) Origin

V. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering Reck’d or unreck’d,
duly with love returns.)

Question 1.
What is the similarity between a song and the rain?
(a) They return to their place of origin
(b) They are never ending
(c) They do not have any origin
(d) They are liked by one and all
Answer:
(a) They return to their place of origin

Question 2.
How has the poet been able to put his own reflections?
(a) By using quotation marks
(b) By using parenthesis or brackets
(c) By making notes in his diary
(d) By telling his friends about his experiences
Answer:
(b) By using parenthesis or brackets
Question 3.
For what purpose has the phrase ‘reck’d’ or ‘unreck’d’ used in the passage?
(a) For highlighting the author’s comments
(b) To indicate that rain or a song keep completing their life-cycle
(c) To indicate that rain or a song do not complete their life-cycle
(d) For making the poem interesting
Answer:
(b) To indicate that rain or a song keep completing their life-cycle